EBOOK Epic and Empire in Vespasianic Rome:A New Reading of Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica

Epic and Empire in Vespasianic Rome offers a new interpretation of Valerius        Flaccus' Argonautica, a Latin epic poem written during the reign of the emperor        Vespasian (70-79 AD). Recounting the famous voyage of Jason and the Argonauts as        they set off to retrieve the Golden Fleece, the poem depicts a narrative of high        epic adventure. In this volume, Stover shows how Flaccus' epic reflects the        restorative ideals of Vespasianic Rome, which attempted to restore orderfollowing        the destructive civil war of 68-69 AD. This proposition sets it apart from the        largely 'pessimistic' readings of other scholars.An important element of Flaccus'        poetics of recovery is an engagement with Lucan's iconoclastic Bellum Civile. This        poem's deconstructive tendencies offered Flaccus a poetic point of departure for his        attempt to renew the epic genre in the context of political renewal triggered by        Vespasian's accession to power. Stover's approach is thus both formalist and        historicist as he seeks not only to elucidate Flaccus' dynamic appropriation of        Lucan, but also to associate theArgonautica's formal gestures within a specific        socio-political context.